Planning for Wind EnergyPublic Attitudes to RenewablesIn Northern Ireland

Wed 1st June 2005

Andrew McCreaAction Renewables

Action Renewables• Joint initiative between DETI and the

Viridian Group in support of government policy

• Created in July 2003 to;

– To raise awareness of the issues surrounding climate change and the solutions provided by renewable energy at all scales in Northern Ireland

– Win the hearts and minds

– To provide support to developers of renewable energy projects (at all levels)

– To provide and publish research material to facilitate the development of the most effective renewable energy projects

Action Renewables – Key work Areas

• Lobbying– Govt, politicians,

Councils, opinion formers• Provision of

information– Website, case studies,

guides, advice• Studies• North-South work

• Installer academy• Delivery of Projects

– Developers, AR Community Advisors

• Verify & monitor performance

• Raise awareness and PR

Public Attitude Survey – 2nd to 30th June 2003

• COI (Government) – UK wide• CAPI – computer screen based questionnaire• 485 - Main Survey• 111- Boost (within 5km of development)• Informed Main – ‘said they knew something

about RE’• Informed Boost – ‘said they knew something

about RE’

COI PAS - 2003

• 88% of General public mentioned at least one type of RE.– Wind – 74% cf 60 nationally Only 2% mentioned

‘Renewable Energy’.• Spontaneous Awareness higher in males,

lowest in Down & Fermanagh.• Highest among those who lived near to a

development.

COI PAS - 2003

• Prompted awareness high – nationally.• Awareness gleaned from TV

programmes – 45% (high) claimed to be aware of onshore wind farms because they had visited one or seen one in UK.

COI –PAS, Onshore wind farms

• Onshore was most widely accepted.• Perceptions of environmental benefits

drove approval, whilst visual intrusion drove resistance.

• Least knowledgeable (older, female) were most resistant to onshore wind.

COI –PAS, Onshore wind farms

• 30% (GP) felt it was acceptable to locate a wind farm within 1 mile of a community, a further quarter said 3 miles was ok.

• Around half felt it was acceptable to locate up to 15 turbines within 5 miles…. although those currently living near would tolerate fewer and thought they should be further away.

MBU Baseline Research – Autumn 2003, repeated March 2005

• Quantitative and qualitative research to determine awareness,

knowledge and attitudes and understanding of issues

– 504 telephone interviews

– 8 focus groups

– Matched pair interviews for 11-16 year olds

• Research carried out by Millward Brown Ulster (MBU)

Results

M IL L W A R D B R O W N U L S T E R

T h e E n v ir o n m e n t in th e P e c k in g o r d e r o f I ssu e s

H ig h

L o w

E n v ir o n m e n t

E d u c a tio nE m p lo y m e n tH e a lthE n te r ta in m e n t

F o o d

Results

M IL L W A R D B R O W N U L S T E R

T h e R e n e w a b le E n e r g y in t h e P e c k in g o r d e r o f E n v ir o n m e n t a l I s s u e s

H ig h

L o w

E n v ir o n m e n t

P o l l u t io n

R e c y c l in g

O z o n e la y e r

R e n e w a b le E n e r g y

D e p le t io n o f r e s o u r c e s

MBU Baseline ResearchFindings - 2003

• Electricity is taken for granted– clean, efficient, natural (?), limitless– not thought about– limited linkages with production/source

• Renewable Energy is low on the pecking order of concerns

– Awareness of the term ‘renewable energy’ is low

– Fragmented Knowledge of renewable energy technologies

– Awareness and knowledge of the issues are mixed

• Empathy and engagement are low – not open to individual

MBU 2005 Electricity Production – where from?

39

19

25

11

5

2527

33

14

8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

dont know Coal Power stations -Ballylumford

Oil gas

20052005 - aware of ads

MBU 2005 Climatic Impacts

26 27

19

24

17

74

22

29

12

29

25

11

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Price cost isincreasing

Current usage ofenergy is creating

pollution

dont know We will eventuallyrun out of fuels

Current usage ofenergy producesglobal warming

Current usagemakes the

greenhouse effectworse

Current usageproduces climate

change

20052005 - aware of ads

MBU Renewable Energy –Technology Awareness

31

28

19

10

5

6

5

1

40

37

25

9

6

11

7

1

0 10 20 30 40 50

Wind

Solar Power

Hydro\water

Nuclear

Biomass\burning straw, waste etc

Wave energy

Tidal

Renewable energy

2005 - aware of ads2005

MBU 2005 Renewable Energy -Awareness

19

4 5

18

21

5

9

24

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

energy that can be reused energy that wont run out alternative environmentallyfirendly

naturall occuring resource

20052005 - aware of ads

Evaluation of MBU

• High unprompted recall of advertising (28%)

• 12% unprompted of the ‘Action Renewables’ name

• 16% prompted recognition of the Action Renewables name

• All KPIs significant stronger amongst those who saw ad

2003 Year 1 Target 2005

Awareness that oil and gas are current sources of energy for producing electricity • oil - 13% • gas - 5%• coal – 18%

453045

No significant change

Awareness of the climatic / environmental impacts of using energy • pollution - 30% • climate change - 20%

3530

2728

Awareness of the different types of renewable energy available in Northern Ireland• wind (13%)• solar (7%)• water (6%) • biomass (1%)

4030305

3128195

Increased understanding of why renewable energy is important • running out of fossil fuels - 22%• reduce environmental impact -15%• Price – 15%

454545

252826

Increased importance of the environment and renewable energy in terms of priority issues

Medium priority on environmental scale

TBA

MBU Key Performance Indicators

BWEA – ‘Embrace’the Revolution Poll• ‘Windfarms are necessary for

producing renewable energy to meet current and future needs in NI’– 90% in Belfast, 87% in West– 86% in South, 82% in North

• The majority of respondents disagreed with the statement ‘windfarms are, or would be ugly or a blot on the landscape’, including 60% in West, 46% in the North, both areas which have windfarms at the moment.

BWEA – CATIBUS ‘Embrace’the Revolution Poll

• 15th –21st April 2005• Telephone survey• 500 adults aged 16+• Randon Digit

Dialling

BWEA – ‘Embrace’the Revolution Poll

• ‘Windfarms are necessary to produce renewable energy, what they look like is unimportant’,

- 70% in West, 62% in South and 62% in Belfast.

• ‘I would be happy to have a windfarm in my local area’.

- 73% (W), 69% (S), 64% (N), 62% (Belfast).

BWEA – ‘Embrace’the Revolution Poll

• 52% would consider installing a wind turbine in their own home. (65% in West).

• 72% support the idea of households generating some or all of their own power using wind energy. (76% in Belfast).

An ill Wind ….Some negative humours ..

• Environmentalists who tell us wind is great but …….

• Concerted media campaign to undermine wind – articles in Sunday Times, Independent

• Regular re-statement of myths• Celebrity anti-champions

• Lack of positive, affirmative statements• Wooly commitment from Government• North Coast Wind farm uncertainty

What we need to do …a counter strategy?• Report clearly, and unambiguously

Govt and science’s commitment for wind– Clear affirmation for more renewables– Needs to come from ‘authority’– No debate with nuclear

• Series of articles – repeated – debunking myths.

• Why Wind!– Emphasise resource– Commercial & technical maturity– Cost of alternatives to customers

• Positive stories & championed statements, regularly & strategically placed.

Public attitudesBroad conclusions …• We are ‘blessed’ with a

fantastic wind resource in NI.• The vast majority of people have a very positive view of RE specifically wind energy.• People who live near WFs have consistently shown support.• We must work with local communities to maximise the benefit from wind developments.• Must engage with all stakeholders to counter ‘negative’ allegations & pro-actively conduct a campaign to fully convince all!